TechCrunch

Bitcoin-powered cellphones – basically phones that can securely hold and send cryptocurrencies – have long been a fascinating if undeveloped concept in the crypto community. When phones talk to each other using BTC or other currencies – whether its to pay bills or send money to friends – you open …

A week ago, AWS announced that it would soon move to per-second billing for users of its EC2 service. It doesn’t come as a huge surprise then that Google today announced a very similar move.<p>Google Compute Engine, Container Engine, Cloud Dataproc, and App Engine’s flexible environment virtual …

No one would use a secure messaging service like Signal if you couldn’t find out who else was on it — but how can you trust Signal and others not to snoop when you submit your contacts for it to check against its list of users? You shouldn’t have to — it should be impossible. That’s the intention …

Twitter for the first time is expanding beyond its 140-character limit, the company announced today. The social network says it will now try out a longer limit of 280 characters in select languages, including English, in order to allow people to share their expanded thoughts without running out of …

The upcoming Ataribox retro gaming console will indeed ship with a selection of classic Atari games, as many suspected when the thing was initially announced – but it’ll also have a Linux OS on board and the ability to play games from other platforms, since it’s going to keep the “open” nature of …

Last month, Softbank, through its massive Vision Fund, led the single biggest private financing round for a health care company ever, leading a $1.1 billion round in the drug holding outfit Roivant Sciences.<p>Today, the Japanese conglomerate might be regretting that decision. The reason: despite …

Google Cloud announced today that it has acquired Bitium, a company that focused on offering enterprise-grade identity management and access tools, such as single-sign on, for cloud-based applications. This will basically help Google better manage enterprise cloud customer implementation across an …

Europe is considering changing its copyright law. At first blush, you might think this couldn’t possibly affect the way you debate the news of the day online, upload family videos or run your startup. But popular proposals at the EU would strike at the heart of the internet’s openness and …

The Apple TV is back for sale on Amazon after a two-year hiatus – a move that was expected following Apple CEO Tim Cook’s announcement in June that Amazon’s Prime Video app would arrive on Apple TV later this year. The two companies had clearly come to an agreement that benefitted their mutual …

Managed by Q, the platform that helps office managers handle day-to-day operations, has made its first acquisition, picking up Y Combinator graduates Hivy for an undisclosed amount.<p>Managed By Q lets office managers book cleanings, handy work, IT help, and order office supplies thanks to a …

After abandoning its plans to launch a subscription video-on-demand business earlier this year, IAC-owned streaming video site Vimeo announced today that it’s acquiring the live video streaming platform, Livestream, and launching its own live streaming product, Vimeo Live. The move to integrate …

Uber is planning to cease operations in Québec next month due to some newly proposed regulations by the Ministry of Transportation. Uber’s last day of operations in Quebec will be October 14.<p>In the last year, Uber was operating in Québec as a pilot program, which Uber said was a “huge success.” But …

In a post-Juicero world, the bar has been set high for any piece of smart kitchen hardware that only makes one type of food. Enter Yomee, which bills itself as the Keurig of fresh yogurt and is now raising funds on Kickstarter. Lecker Labs, the startup behind Yomee, hopes that its relatively low …

Dyson, maker of high-tech vacuum cleaners and fans, has long been rumored to be getting into the car game. That’s no longer a rumor, as the company has confirmed that it’s working on a battery electric vehicle with an all-electric drivetrain to be launched by 2020.<p>The news comes from Dyson founder …

Workplace — Facebook’s bid to take on the Slack, Microsoft and the rest of the players in the market of business chat and collaboration — is getting a big push today by way of a significant customer win. The company has signed on Walmart, the retailing giant and the world’s biggest employer with …

Microsoft Excel users rejoice. Your favorite spreadsheet is about to get a lot smarter, thanks to the help of machine learning and a better connection to the outside world.<p>As Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s general manager for Office, and Rob Howard, the company’s director of Office 365 ecosystem …

Yubico has launched the smallest version of its popular YubiKey hardware authentication and encryption devices yet: the $60 YubiKey 4C Nano. Like the regular YubiKey 4C device, this is a USB-C dongle. It’s essentially the USB-C version of the company’s existing YubiKey 4 Nano device for traditional …

One of the big promises with iOS 11 is ARKit. This new framework makes it much easier to look at virtual objects in the real world using augmented reality. Sketchfab has been building the biggest 3D model sharing platform, a sort of YouTube for 3D models. That’s why today’s iOS update turns …

Alibaba is getting serious about logistics after it agreed to invest RMB 5.3 billion ($807 million) in order to take majority ownership in subsidiary company Cainiao.<p>Cainiao was created four years ago alongside eight other backers to bring organization in Chinese logistics, particularly around …

Facebook and the NFL this morning announced a new multi-year programming deal that will see the sports organization distributing official NFL video, including game recaps and official highlights, to the social network. According to the NFL, the videos and recaps will be from all 256 regular season …

While many folks think of Yelp as a place to find a great place to eat, the company has been quietly infiltrating other categories. Home Services — stuff like plumbing, movers, mechanics, etc. — seem to be a booming business for Yelp, now representing 20 percent of the company’s overall revenue.<p>So …

Thai space startup mu Space will launch its first geostationary satellite with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, the companies announced today at the International Astronautical Congress in Australia. Mu Space, founded by Northrop Grumman Corporation alum James Yenbamroong, will launch its first …

Plume Labs wants to be the definitive startup when it comes to air pollution. The company has built an app, an API and now an air quality tracker. The Flow is a tiny Bluetooth device you pair with your smartphone to learn more about the air you’re currently breathing.<p>It works both inside and …

Instagram is celebrating its milestone of reaching 800 million users on the platform, and 500 million using it daily, with new comment moderation tools that make it easier to silence anyone being potentially offensive. The new comment tools mean that if you have a public account on Instagram, you …

Amazon today is bringing Alexa to the Amazon Music app on iOS and Android, allowing listeners to use voice controls with their music. The feature is available in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Australia, the company says, and will let users do things like request a song, artist, or music for various …

Just over a week after Equifax’s chief security officer and chief information officer “retired,” the bungling company’s CEO has made the same move after a huge data breach impacted over 140 million customers.<p>The company announced that Richard Smith has left his role as CEO and chairman of the board …

It’s no longer just a place to look up stock market data and company news. Yahoo Finance is now introducing trading directly via its app.<p>With 75 million monthly active users, Yahoo Finance (our sister brand) has become a popular home for all things investing, other than investing itself. Now the …